A Thousand Cranes
by Bambeah
Summary: They say that if you fold a thousand cranes, your wish will come true.


A male student frantically paced in front of the Room of Requirement. His eyes closed and eyebrows knitted in concentration, he muttered under his breath for privacy. When the door finally appeared, he hastily opened it.

A sudden burst of white, and the noise of flapping over took him. Spells were shot out but it did not stop all of them.

Harry watched as Ron and Hermione huddled close to each other, despite the fact that they were in class. Hermione was bent over her desk scribbling furiously while Ron yawned and tried to stay awake.

Harry wouldn't think anything of this if it weren't for the glances Ron gave Hermione, and the small smile that graced his face. And the way Hermione would lean against him. He couldn't help but wonder if he would ever have that.

"Ouch!" Ron yelled. He rubbed his ear and turned to find a paper crane flapping in the air.

The crane flew over to Harry and landed on the desk in front of him, it flapped its wings softly before stilling.

"What the-?" Harry questioned.

Harry looked to the right of the classrooms where all the Gryffindors usually sat, and only saw whispered gossip and soft giggles. He was about to look over to the Slytherin side when a the sharp sound of flapping reached his ears and he looked towards the open door.

The swoosh of paper slapping air was deafening, and a great quivering shadow passed by the doorway. It was coming closer.

"Bloody hell," Ron murmured.

A swarm of white rushed through the doors. There were so many all at once, that it was hard to see what they were.

Someone screamed, and Harry drew out his wand. Hermione and Ron soon followed.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Ron asked, jumping to his feet.

"I'm not sure." Hermione said, holding an arm above her to protect her face.

"Protego!" Professor McGonagall yelled.

Following her lead, Harry cast a reductor curse. Colors filled the room as spells were thrown from all direction.

Harry hissed as one of them flew past his arm. He looked at his arm to find a small scratch and no blood, but it hurt like a paper cut.

"They're going down," Ron yelled.

Harry looked down at the floor, to find immobile bodies of white strangely all piled up near his feet. It looked familiar. He shot a hand out to catch one that flew over his head. He used his other hand to swat the swarming white, and brought his hand down. He uncurled his fingers to reveal a crushed paper crane.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked, peering over his shoulder. "Is that a paper crane?"

Harry nodded, while peering down into his hand. He faintly heard Hermione rushing over to tell the professor to stop firing spells. He stared at the crane and noticed that the crane wasn't purely white. If he looked closely it looked like smudged ink.

The spells stopped and soon the swarming white of paper cranes quieted as they slowly floated down.

Curious, Harry unfolded the crane. Carefully undoing each fold until a slightly crinkled square laid before him. The note was smudged, and he could only make out the first and last word. "I" and "you."

Harry wondered if all the cranes had notes written in them.

"Harry," Hermione gasped. "Look."

Harry looked over to Hermione to see her holding a hand to her mouth, and her right hand pointing down at his feet.

He looked down to see a large mound of paper cranes stacked in front him. He quickly looked around to see if there were more, but they had all piled in front of him. His brows furrowed his brows, he wondered who would send him this many paper cranes, and why.

Professor McGonagall cast a few spells, checking for potential dangers. She mumbled angrily under her breath.

Murmurs filled the classroom as to who the sender was. And there were a few snickers and giggles as a few of them murmured the meaning behind the hundreds of paper crane. A few girls giggled over how romantic it was, never mind the fact that he was a boy and boys don't get romanced by girls.

"Mr. Potter what is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall demanded, now that she deemed the paper cranes perfectly harmless.

"I'm not sure, Professor," he answered truthfully. He picked up another crane from the stack, and told her, "I think they're messages."

"Love notes, you mean!" some one shouted from behind.

"Everyone back to your seats!" Professor McGonagall said.

Harry noticed they were sent anonymously. He grabbed another crane, unfolding this one faster. Then another one. And another one.

"Well Harry, what does it say?" Hermione huffed, curiosity getting the best of her.

Harry shoved the unfolded cranes into her hands. Each crane held the same message.

"Harry," she whispered.

"Who do you think they're from?" Harry asked.

He saw Hermione open her mouth to answer but the footsteps of someone running down the hall caught both of their attention.

A male student burst into the room and stared straight into his eyes. Hands braced on his knees and chest heaving with each breath was Draco Malfoy.

Harry's mind murmured the words from the note, and the voice drawled out in a Malfoy-like fashion, "I love you."


End file.
